All the King's Horses
Silas woke in a clean, blank room, with no memory and the lingering sensation that he had woken from death. Sharply intelligent, he seeks clues to what has happened and why he has amnesia. Unaware of his Immortal nature, he investigates cartons in the room with him, filled with records of some kind of experiments. He spends some time reading through them before Dilijan pays him a visit. The two hold a conversation during which Dilijan quizzes Silas on what he has read. Dilijan reveals that he, Jiolante (sp?) and Silas were companions thousands of years ago. Jiolante was a female Immortal. She and Silas fell deeply in love. When the three of them were attacked by bandits, Jiolante lost her head to one of the attackers, and her Quickening went to Silas. Afterwards, Silas could feel and hear her inside him, trying to reassure him that her death was not his fault. It began to drive him mad. Dilijan attempted to trepan Silas to siphon his grief into himself. However, the process went wrong and the tip of Dilijan's stone augur was embedded in Silas' brain, killing him. When Silas resurrected, his intelligence had been reduced to that of a child with uncontrolled violent outbursts owing to brain damage that could not heal with the stone fragment still embedded in his head. He was equally happy playing with children, or crushing skulls with his bare hands. Horrified by what he had done, Dilijan had tried to help Silas, before admitting temporary defeat and releasing him to his own devices. Silas joined up with Kronos, Methos and Caspian, and wiped out Dilijan's village. While Silas continued his life, Dilijan utilized his acolytes to track him. As Dilijan became increasingly corrupt, he engaged in experiments to determine what effect Quickenings might have on Silas. These experiments included killing and capturing Silas and keeping him dead for a month until acolytes had gathered the closest intelligent and kind immortals to be had, Dilijan then killed them and allowed their Quickenings to enter Silas, however the killings seemed to be a waste as Silas remained unchanged. Dilijan continued his research and experiments only now he had two motives, he still wished to understand how he had damaged Silas's mental faculties but now he also wanted to learn more in order to use that knowledge for vengeance. As their conversation wound down Silas realized who he was and asked Dilijan how he had repaired the injury. Dilijan revealed that as science had improved and his own skills with it he had been able to perform microsurgery and remove the stone tip of his ancient drill from Silas' brain. Dilijan then revealed that now that he has made sure Silas' recovery is complete, he will replace the fragment. Silas reacts angrily and tries to resist. He asks how Dilijan knows it will work, only to be told that this is not the first time. Silas resists but fails to escape, and Dilijan finishes this latest round in his one-sided cycle of vengeance. Category:Media